Deputy mayor’s broken pledge tips airport sale

Monday, 3 June 2024

Deputy Wellington Mayor Laurie Foon in mid-April pledged to vote to keep the Wellington City Council's airport shares.

Broken campaign promises from Wellington’s Green deputy mayor were the deciding factor in getting the council’s controversial airport share sale over the line.

Green councillor Nīkau Wi Neera went into Thursday’s vote cautiously optimistic he had the numbers to derail the planned sale of the council’s 34% stake in the airport. He ended up losing by eight votes to 10.

If Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon had stayed true to her pre-election pledges and voted against the sale, it would have been an even 9-9 split vote.

That would have given the committee chairperson Rebecca Matthews the deciding vote and she had already voted for keeping the airport shares. She on Sunday confirmed she would have likely used her casting vote in the same way – meaning a no-sale.

Deputy Wellington Mayor Laurie Foon, centre, pledged to oppose Wellington Airport share sales then became the deciding vote for them.

The Green manifesto prior to the 2022 Wellington council elections said: “Many of our policies involve advocating for public ownership – whether it is our public transport system or the Wellington Airport – we know that public ownership is important to our communities, and that the environment and people are better for it.”

Foon in mid-April attended a Unions Wellington “Keep the Airport Ours” forum in Wellington where she pledged to vote against the sale.

Unions Wellington co-convenor Sabina Rizos-Shaw said it was “galling” to see Foon and Mayor Tory Whanau “rebuke high profile Greens, and the party’s manifesto, to push through an unpopular, economically dubious agenda”.

Councillor Nikau Wi Neera’s plea to save the Wellington City Council;s stake in Wellington airport was derailed by a fellow Green councillor.

While Whanau is now a Green party member, she ran for the mayoralty as an independent.

“Our poll showed that 84% of people in Laurie Foon’s ward opposed this plan, the highest out of any ward,” Rizos-Shaw said.

Wellington Central Green MP Tamatha Paul, before last week’s vote, said opposition to privatisation was “fundamental” to Green principles. Any Green elected member who voted for selling shares would “undermine the credibility” of the party and damage its relationship with unions, she said.

Rebecca Matthews would have had the casting vote if Laurie Foon had voted in line with her pledges.

Neither she nor Foon could be reached for comment on Sunday.

Rongotai Green MP Julie Anne Genter said public ownership of strategic infrastructure was ideal but councillors were put in a “terrible situation” of sticking with the climate action they campaigned on or keeping the council airport shareholding.

She backed all three Green councillors – Foon, Wi Neera, and Geordie Rogers, the latter two who also opposed the sale.

A Green Party statement on Sunday said its city councillors were faced with “difficult decisions” and had been open with party membership.

“Discussions have been had about how the party can support councillors to interpret and apply manifesto commitments in complicated situations and these discussions are ongoing.”

The government needed to stump up with better funding and financing options to help councils deal with insurance risks, it said.

Wi Neera last week told the council that if asset sales were the new Green Party direction, “I want no part in it”.

He on Sunday acknowledged councillors were under “immense pressure … but I am disappointed that we weren’t all able to come together and vote our values”.

How they voted

For selling airport shares: Mayor Tory Whanau, Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon, pouiwi Holden Hohaia and Liz Kelly, and councillors Sarah Free, John Apanowicz, Tim Brown, Diane Calvert, Nicola Young, and Tony Randle.

Against: Councillors Nureddin Abdurahman, Ray Chung, Rebecca Matthews (committee chairperson), Ben McNulty, Geordie Rogers, Teri O'Neill, Nīkau Wi Neera, and Iona Pannett.